World Leaders Agree to Billions in Aid for Russia, Africa

AP ^ | 6/27/02 | Martin Crutsinger

[Jean S]

KANANASKIS, Alberta (AP) - The United States and its wealthy Group of Eight allies agreed Thursday to spend up to $20 billion over the next decade helping Russia dismantle stockpiled dangerous weapons and pledged billions of dollars in new development aid to Africa.

President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin sealed the 10-year pact on Russia, the newest G-8 member, in their one-on-one talks as an economic summit of the world's industrial powers drew to a close.

Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien announced the separate agreement on Africa following discussions with the presidents of four African nations and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who said the aid pact could be a "turning point in African hiistory."

"Today we have a deal that represents a new beginning and fresh hope for Africa," Chretien announced with the African leaders and his G-8 partners standing behind him. "We have acted collectively to make sure that globalization benefits all and no continent is left behind."

The agreement offers increased aid and foreign investment to countries in Africa who are willing to eliminate government corruption and pursue free market reforms.

"We are determined to keep our part of the bargain," said Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo.

The G-8 countries also said they would develop by next year a plan to create an African peacekeeping force - part of an effort to address protracted conflicts in Congo, Sudan and Angola.

In their action plan, G-8 nations also committed to earmarking 50 percent of their promised foreign aid increases to Africa in coming years. The Bush administration has pledged to increase its current foreign aid level of $10 billion by another $5 billion annually by 2006. The 15-nation European Union has committed to an increase in coming years of $7 billion.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said the Africa plan addresses "a scar on the conscience of the world."

World leaders meeting at a remote Canadian Rockies resort said they would also provide up to $20 billion in support for Russia's efforts to safeguard its weapons stockpiles was driven by concerns that the materials could fall into the hands of terrorists.

"The attacks of Sept. 11 demonstrated the terrorists are prepared to use any means to cause terror and inflict appalling casualties on innocent people," the G-8 leaders said in a joint statement.

It declared "a new G-8 global partnership against the spread of weapons and materials of mass destruction."

The wealthy nations said they would explore canceling some of Russia's old Soviet government debts and the debts of other countries willing to devote the money saved to accelerate efforts to safeguard materials that could be used by terrorists.

According to a senior U.S. official, Putin told Bush that Russia would abide by a series of conditions under which the United States and leaders from Europe, Japan and Canada would put up the money.

The leaders had reached tentative agreement Wednesday on the money issue, but their aides negotiated late into the night and Thursday morning over Russia's obligations to the monitoring provisions.

Russia agreed to provide its new G-8 partners access to disposal sites, such as facilities where nuclear submarines are dismantled, the official said. Moscow also has ensured adequate auditing and oversight authority to its partners.

The agreement builds on a long-standing U.S. program supporting the decommissioning of Russia's nuclear weapons, a program that the Bush administration sought to trim back in its first budget to Congress last year.

In Thursday's talks, Bush called Putin "an ally - a strong ally in the war against terror and his actions speak louder than his words."

But talk here was also preoccupied with Bush's three-day-old Middle East peace plan and his allies' hesitance to embrace the United States position that an independent Palestine is only possible if Palestinians replace Yasser Arafat as their leader.

Bush, as he opened meetings with Putin in a small windowless room, said: "I'm very pleased with the response to my proposal on the Middle East. The response has been very positive."

Meanwhile, Putin's foreign policy adviser, Sergei Prikhodko, reiterated the Russian view: "We must work with the leadership in place, including Arafat."

Putin heads home to Moscow having finally won Russia full-fledged membership in the elite G-8, made up of the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan.

Russia was placed in the rotation to serve as host for a summit for the first time in 2006.

The G-8 leaders also pondered how to offer assurances to global financial markets, which were sent tumbling Wednesday with WorldCom Inc.'s announcement that it had disguised $3.8 billion of expenses.

Putin said Bush, in the summit's private meetings, paid a lot of attention to corporate accounting scandals, reassuring counterparts that his administration would investigate and prosecute wrongdoers.

"For me and my other colleagues it was very important to listen to the president's opinion because under the circumstances of the globalized community and world, a lot depends on the state of the U.S. economy these days," Putin said.

The remote mountain location 65 miles west of Calgary sharply reduced the number of anti-globalization protesters, a marked and mostly peaceful contrast from last year when thousands of demonstrators violently clashed with police in Italy.

---

On the Net:

Canadian summit site: http://www.g8.gc.ca

AP-ES-06-27-02 1520EDT

[chiefqc]

I guess of the 20 billion over ten years, the U.S.A. is expected to give 19 billion with the rest being split amoung the remainer of the group.

[A Ruckus of Dogs]

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said the Africa plan addresses "a scar on the conscience of the world."

Africa's problems do not make me feel guilty in the least.

[DoughtyOne]

 
the Case of the Freeper FRiva Feva is under scrutiny - super-sleuths are welcomed
come resolve the way to yesterday's Target Post, you're not out of the running yet
win your registration fees to the FRive Las Vegas Conference if you dare